The sun was beating relentlessly into his hotel room and drilling holes into Yuri's painfully hungover skull. He was pissed to realize that his drunken self had forgotten to close the curtains last night after he got back from the club. With a pathetic whimper, he tried to roll over and bury his head in the pillows, but the stench of stale beer, vodka, cigarettes, and sex from the club last night hit him so strongly that he forced himself to get up and make his way over to the shower.

Once he turned the water on, he turned off all but one light in the bathroom and sat down under the hot stream, leaning his head against the wall and silently praying for death. His mascara from the night before ran down his skin in dark rivulets, and he couldn't help but feel like it was some kind of comment on the note the night had ended on between himself and Otabek.

Instantly, his mind began flashing back to those moments from the previous night between them. The taste of Otabek on his lips, his warm hand pumping his cock, the smell of the alcohol on his breath.

Yuri instantly flashed hot with arousal and at the same time felt a fresh wave of self-loathing and disgust with himself for thinking these things about his best friend. Especially since that friend had rejected him when he was at his most vulnerable and asked Otabek to come back into the room with him.

The water began to feel cold after a while of this, so he forced himself to stand and find a washcloth so that he could scrub himself as quickly as possible. He debated ignoring his now painful erection, but decided that it was best to take care of that before he had to go out in public. He refused to think about Otabek while he did so, and kept forcing himself to imagine various actors and singers he liked instead.

By the time he stumbled back into the room, he had a towel draped around his neck and the steam from the bathroom was leaking out in smoky tendrils. He stood naked in front of his suitcase for about five minutes, debating whether he wanted to get dressed and if he did, which outfit he should wear, but the sound of his phone vibrating forced him to walk back to the bed and save it from its fluffy grave under the covers.

The text was from Otabek, because nobody else would be brave enough to dare disturb Yuri so early the morning after he'd been drinking. It was a simple request to meet for breakfast at the coffee shop across the street from the hotel, and Yuri's stomach sank when he remembered that they'd promised to talk this morning. Every instinct in his body was screaming that Otabek wanted to tell him that their friendship was over, that Yuri had successfully made it super weird and awkward by making out with him and allowing Otabek to jerk him off in the bathroom at a club. He was convinced that he was about to lose his best friend, and that small voice in the back of his head telling him that he was being completely stupid was silenced and killed almost immediately.

Gathering his courage, Yuri responded that he'd be there in twenty minutes. Otabek replied with a thumbs up emoji, and that was undeniably an extra stab to the gut. Finally returning to his suitcase, Yuri pulled out his best pair of black skinny jeans and his favorite emerald green cashmere sweater. If he was about to have his heart smashed to pieces, then damn he was going to look fantastic in the process.

Otabek was already waiting at a table when Yuri arrived, and waved him over to the open seat across from him. Yuri was equal parts horrified and flustered that Otabek knew his favorite coffee order and already had it waiting for him when he sat down. Part of him wanted to be petty and tell the other man that he actually wanted something different for once, but they were in public and the last thing he wanted was to cause a scene.

"Morning," Otabek smiled softly, somehow managing to set Yuri's nerves slightly at ease while he held out the to-go cup of Yuri's favorite hazelnut latte.

"Hey," Yuri replied, grabbing the offered drink and immediately taking a big gulp of it to distract himself.

"How are you feeling?" Otabek asked, clearly beating around the bush.

Yuri shrugged as he sat down and began fiddling with the cardboard sleeve on the cup that was meant to protect his hands from the heat of the beverage. "Been better."

Otabek did his typical non-committal "Hmm," and stared pointedly at the wall to Yuri's right. Yuri thought maybe he was missing something and looked in the same direction as his companion, but when he realized nothing was there, he knew Otabek was trying to sort through his thoughts before he continued the conversation. Another subtle detail about each other that Yuri was going to miss the intimacy of when Otabek inevitably brought this conversation to its prolonged end. Yuri was starting to get the itch to just do it already, like putting a lame cow out of its misery rather than forcing it to keep walking for miles with the herd on a broken leg—another analogy he found himself trying not to laugh at the irony of given his current situation.

"Yura, about last night…" Otabek's voice broke through Yuri's thoughts, and he immediately braced himself for the fall that was about to happen. He even felt himself subconsciously gripping his coffee cup so tight that it was a miracle it didn't crumple in his hand and send espresso and frothed milk everywhere.

Otabek took a deep breath and said the last words Yuri ever expected to hear, "I don't want you to think that I refused to come into your room because I'm not interested. That's not the case. It's the farthest thing from it."

Yuri nearly choked on his coffee as he was taking another sip. His green eyes shot open and he stared, completely bewildered, at Otabek.

For his part, the Kazakh didn't notice and surged forward with the conversation. "I can't even pretend to ignore it anymore. Yura, I love you, and probably have since we first met when we were kids at that training camp. And as for last night, please know how badly I wanted to go back inside with you. But you were drunk and in a bad place emotionally, so I wasn't about to let you do anything you'd regret. Saying no was one of the hardest things I've ever done."

Completely shocked, Yuri just stared at Otabek, mouth opening and closing uselessly like the many koi in one of the ponds at Yu-Topia that Mari would have him feed every morning while he spent his summers with the Katsuki's. This was the farthest thing from how he had expected this conversation to go, and he was at a complete loss for words. He finally went to speak, but Otabek had to add one more statement.

"Beka, I—" Yuri swore his brain had shut down. He kept thinking of ways to start his sentences, but not how to finish them. It was a strange sensation and he really wasn't sure how to handle it.

Finally, Yuri forced himself to take a deep breath and gather his thoughts. Otabek never once pushed him to say anything, simply sat there and gave him an understanding look as he watched Yuri struggle to put what he was thinking into intelligible words. It was one of Yuri's favorite things about Otabek—how he understood him on practically a molecular level and never pushed Yuri to express anything he wasn't comfortable with. And how knew that Yuri's mood swings were the result of how deeply he felt things and needed to work on processing these emotions, but it typically manifested itself in frustrated anger.

So when Yuri finally spoke, slowly and truthfully, he knew Otabek would meet him halfway and hear him out. "Beka, I honestly don't really know what to say. My feelings for you definitely go beyond just friendship, but I'm also not entirely sure if I'm ready to make that leap from friendship to more than that just yet."

Otabek nodded and gave Yuri one of his rare smiles. If he was hurt or disappointed, he hid it well. "Yura, take all the time you need. Whether you decide you want to stay friends or if you want to be more than that, I will support your decision and continue to be by your side. Above all else, you are the most important person in my life and the last thing I would ever want would be to make you uncomfortable or lose you altogether."

Yuri was so shocked at those words that he once again felt tears welling in the corners of his eyes, but this time it was for the right reasons. He was so convinced that Otabek had been preparing to tell him that they couldn't be friends anymore, and instead he'd gotten the deepest confession of love that Otabek Altin could ever give.

And even better was that he was willing to wait for Yuri to figure everything out on his own. No pressure and no threats of leaving him. Just pure love and support.

At that point, Yuri's phone beeped and reminded him that he needed to leave to catch his flight back home. He apologized to Otabek for needing to take off so suddenly, but Otabek insisted it wasn't a problem. Yuri swiped at his stubborn tears with the back of his hand and promised that they would start planning his trip to Almaty in earnest once he was back in St. Petersburg. Otabek said he was looking forward to it. They parted ways after Otabek pushed a piece of long blonde hair behind Yuri's ear and placed a gentle kiss to Yuri's forehead before he wished him safe travels. Yuri returned the sentiment and left Otabek with a soft kiss on the cheek and tight hug before taking off to meet Viktor, Yuri, Valentina, and Mila at the airport.

Yuri found his friends already at their gate, waiting impatiently for him since he'd cut it close to the flight time after grabbing that coffee with Otabek. Katuski's eyes shot open when he saw Yuri and grabbed a pacing Viktor by the wrist to get his attention. They exchanged one off their famous looks and were about to make their way over to Yuri when a flash of red hair came out of nowhere and Valentina practically tackled him to the ground in a suffocating hug.

"Yuriiiiii!" She cried, "You never told me about you and Otabek! What the hell?"

"Oof!" Yuri snapped. "Get off me, you little gremlin. And what are you even talking about? I told you he's my best friend."

Valentina shot him a confused look but let go of him. Before she could say anything, Mila grabbed her by the arm and announced that she needed her sister's help picking out a cute souvenir for their parents in the gift shop. Valentina tried to argue but Mila pushed her in the direction of the store before she could protest any further. With a single look and a pronouncement of, "We'll talk later," to Yuri, she followed her younger sister in the store.

Thoroughly confused by everything that had just taken place, Yuri made his way over to where Viktor and Yuuri were sitting already. Settling down into the uncomfortable airport seats, he was surprised to find the two staring at him awkwardly.

"What?" He asked, hands immediately jumping to his hair and his face, convinced there was something stuck to him.

"Are you okay, Yuri?" Katsuki asked cautiously, as if he were about to poke a sleeping bear.

Yuri blinked, brain buzzing with a million questions about what could possibly be going on with everybody. "Yes? Why wouldn't I be?"

Viktor's famous blue eyes shot wide open, as if he just realized something. "Yuuri, dear, he doesn't know."

Now Yuri was getting anxious as well as confused. "Know what, old man?"

Katuski softly suggested that Yuri should check his phone. Nervously, he fished it out of his pocket only to find out that he had forgotten to charge it last night and it had therefore died sometime while he was at the coffee shop with Otabek. He told his two friends as much, and Viktor handed him an extra phone charger. Yuri plugged it in and sat there anxiously staring at his phone while he waited for it to power up. He could tell something was very off, and given that both Katuski and Viktor refused to look him in the eye or tell him what was going on, his anxiety was at an all-time high.

Finally, after what felt like forever and Yuri nervously clicking at the screen with his nails, his phone booted up. Once he punched in his passcode and pulled up the home screen, the notifications began pouring in. And as soon as he realized what was happening, he felt all of the air go out of his lungs.

On the front page of a popular skating website, were blurry but unmistakable pictures of Yuri and Otabek from the club last night. The pictures were of them as they danced provocatively together, a couple of them after they had left the bathroom with mussed hair and bruised lips, and a final one of them leaving the club with Otabek's protective hand on his waist. The article itself was pure garbage, nothing but speculation and gossip about the possibility that the two were together.

Yuri felt as if the floor had dropped out from under him. The Yuri's Angels were going nuts. The comments were all a mixture of support and homophobic slurs about the two of them. All of the other skaters, even fucking JJ, were texting and calling him to see if he was okay. He didn't know what to do. He felt the blood drain out of his face as the realization of the impact this had on him began to hit.

Yuuri came over and calmly took the phone out of Yuri's hand. He tried to tell him that this would all pass, and that if he just laid low for a while, the media would forget it ever happened. Like a bad rumor in high school, the best thing to do was to ignore its existence.

"Tch, you forget none of us had a normal childhood, Katsudon. We didn't go to school with other kids. We never learned to socialize properly. We were home schooled so we could become Olympic athletes, for fuck's sake!" Yuri was trying to keep his breathing even as he shouted at the well-meaning Yuuri.

"Yurio, I'm telling you from experience how best to handle these situations," Yuuri fixed him with an even look, and Yuri immediately felt guilty as he remembered some of the hell Katuski and Viktor had gone through when their relationship had gone public.

His phone started buzzing and he saw Otabek's name flash across the screen as he tried to call him. He immediately hit the 'answer' button without thinking twice about it.

"Beka—" he began, but Otabek cut him off.

"Crap, Yura, I'm so sorry about all of this. I wasn't thinking."

"Why are you sorry?" Yuri was surprised by what Otabek had said. "You didn't share those photos. Besides, the article wasn't exactly off the mark on this."

He could practically hear Viktor smirk at that comment.

Yuri could hear an announcement in the background somewhere on Otabek's end. "Shit, sorry. I gotta go. My flight is boarding. Skype me when you get home? We should talk about this and my coach will probably recommend doing some damage control with the media."

"Yeah, I will. Have a safe flight, Beka." Yuri said.

"You too, Yura. Talk to you later," Otabek replied before hanging up.

Stunned, Yuri let the phone go black as he stared at it, wide-eyed and unsure of what to do with himself. Katuski and Viktor were smart enough to leave him alone while he processed all of this information until the gate attendant announced that their flight was about to start boarding. Numbly, Yuri went through the whole routine he was all too familiar with after a lifetime of international travelling.

By the time he had taken his seat on the plane, he thought maybe his breathing was almost back to normal. Mila had seen how distressed he was and immediately bullied the man sitting next to him to switch seats with her so that they could talk on the flight.

"Hey," she said softly, bumping him affectionately with her shoulder. "How are you holding up?"

"Honestly? I have no idea." Yuri let out a nervous laugh.

Mila nodded her understanding and put her arm around his shoulders in that sisterly way she had a tendency to do with him. She didn't try to fill the silence by reassuring Yuri or telling him everything would work out. Just sat there and gave him her silent support. It was probably what Yuri loved most about her, although he would never admit it out loud.

"Beka and I talked this morning," he finally said, realizing that he needed to talk about what happened with someone outside of the whole situation.

"And?"

"And he told me he loves me. The article wasn't wrong about something happening last night—"

Mila laughed at that. "Well that's obvious. You two are about as subtle as a brick in the small of my back. You didn't even bother to cover up that massive hickey on your neck."

Yuri subconsciously slapped a hand to his neck, eyes widening. He pulled his phone out and switched the camera to selfie mode to check his neck and—yup. Mila wasn't lying. There was a giant, purple hickey on his neck that he hadn't noticed while he was busy wallowing in his hangover and self-pity that morning.

"Shit!" he swore. Then, "Hey, did you just quote Brand New at me?"

Mila winked. "Maybe. But seriously Yurachka, Otabek told you he loves you. What did you say?"

Yuri sighed, realizing that he wasn't about to get out of this conversation. "I told him that I care about him beyond friendship, but that I need some time to think. He told me to take all the time in the world."

Mila smiled affectionately at him. "I knew Otabek was a great guy!"

"I'm so confused about everything now though!" Yuri cried, burying his face in his hands. "What do I do?"

"Does the world knowing about you two change the feelings you have for each other?"

Yuri realized what she was getting at. "No, not at all."

The smile Mila gave him just grew and she ruffled his hair at that. "Then I think you already have your answer."

Yuri elbowed her but otherwise didn't try to fight her beyond smoothing his hair back out. "Oi, so what about you and Sara? You two finally together?"

The conversation finally changed over into literally anything else other than Yuri, the news, and his feelings for Otabek, and for that he was eternally grateful. By the end of the flight, he had almost forgotten about his problems and was laughing again. Almost.

Later that evening, Yuri was sprawled out on his bed, laptop balanced on his chest and Potya curled up beside him. He absent-mindedly stroked at his cat's fur while she purred contently under his hand, all the while he zoned out while watching YouTube videos and waiting for Otabek to call him. He had at least been able to change into a pair of black leggings and an oversized t-shirt that he may or may not have stolen from Otabek while he had been visiting. The sleeve kept slipping off his shoulder and he was waiting to see if Otabek would notice on the Skype call that Yuri was wearing it.

When the Skype tone starting ringing on his computer, he immediately sat up, throwing Potya off his arm and making her hiss at him. He tried to apologize but she jumped off the bed and ran into the other room, tail held indignantly high as she left. "Damn cat," Yuri grumbled as he clicked the 'answer' button.

"Hey, Beka! How was your flight?" Yuri was beaming already as Otabek's face came into view on his laptop screen.

Otabek looked exhausted and was still wearing the same outfit he had been wearing when they'd met for coffee that morning. Yuri suspected that he'd just walked in the door and had to physically drag himself to the computer. He felt bad about this, especially given how much later it was in Almaty than in St. Petersburg, but he also knew Otabek probably really wanted to talk about the article that had turned their day into absolute hell.

"It was good, but long. Just got home about ten minutes ago. How about yours?" Brown eyes widened as he finally noticed the familiar light blue shirt Yuri was wearing. "Hey, is that my shirt? I've been looking for that!"

Yuri smirked, purposely letting the sleeve slide down his arm even farther and revealing about half of his collar bone to the other man. He pretended not to notice the little intake of breath Otabek did at the sight. "You should be more careful with your things. You left this here and I don't particularly want to give it back."

Otabek groaned, burying his face in his hands for a second before looking back at the screen. "You're going to be the death of me. But keep that shirt. You look better in it anyway."

Grinning triumphantly, Yuri pulled the collar up to his nose, smelling the scent on it and hoping he was coming off as more sexy rather than creepy. "Good. It even still smells like you, so you weren't getting it back anyway."

Otabek swallowed but otherwise said nothing at the sight of Yuri inhaling his scent. The conversation lulled a little after that, back to basic things like skating routines, music, and Otabek's latest DJ gig. The small talk was making Yuri anxious though, like they were just putting off the inevitable with the conversation they knew needed to be had.

"So about that article—" Otabek finally cut to the chase. "My coach is calling for damage control and wants us to make a statement to the press. What do Viktor and Yuuri have to say about it?"

Yuri frowned at that, insulted that Otabek's coach even thought there was any damage to deal with. "They both said to ignore it and let it go away like a bad rumor. They've dealt with this kind of shit before so I think we should do what they say."

Otabek sighed, but nodded his agreement. "They are better at handling these kinds of situations. My coach is a little more, uh…old fashioned, I guess."

Yuri let out a loud snort at that. "Your coach is an ass, you mean. What does it fucking matter if people think we're together? You were the one who said that to me back in Prague."

The relief on Otabek's face from that comment was so sincere that Yuri swore his heart was fucking melting like a protagonist in one of those awful romance novels Mila was always reading. He realized that something was stirring in his heart, and he wondered if this might be the love Otabek claimed he felt for him. It was too soon to say any of this out loud, but Yuri was thinking that maybe he could get used to the idea of loving Otabek and being loved in return.

"Alright, we'll ignore it and hope it goes away. If it gets any different, we can revisit this discussion," Otabek was smiling now. "So about your trip to Almaty…"

With rejuvenated enthusiasm, the two men went back and forth for the next hour or so discussing dates and details that Yuri was going to come stay with Otabek. Yuri would have to clear it with his doctor and physical therapist first, but since he wasn't competing this season and didn't have any students to coach, he figured that he could spend several weeks in Almaty. Otabek was of course happy to oblige his friend, telling him that he could stick around as long as he pleased.

By the end of the conversation, Yuri had booked his flights and was getting excited about this trip. He would be flying to Kazakhstan in two weeks after the New Year, since he had already promised that he'd spend that with the Russian skating team as they had a tradition of going on a New Year's bar crawl every year, and would be staying with Otabek in his apartment for a month. Otabek even offered to let him bring Potya, but Yuri declined, figuring that would be too stressful for the cat and insisted Georgi could watch her since he was retired and had nothing better to do these days.

For once, Yuri was the first one to start yawning. Potya had decided she'd forgiven him and had found her way back into his chest, so he was cuddling with her while trying to talk to Otabek and the warmth of her body and soft purring was lulling him into an exhausted sleep. Otabek chuckled at the sight and even took a picture on his phone to be printed out and framed. Yuri whined and begged him to delete it, but Otabek firmly refused and insisted it was the cutest damn thing he had ever seen. "Compensation for my favorite shirt," he added.

Yuri ultimately conceded with an indignant "Hmph!" and Otabek continued to chuckle. He finally told Yuri to sign off and go to bed, that they could talk again tomorrow. He was reluctant, but Yuri really was exhausted and he wanted to shower off the stink of airport travel before going to bed. So with a soft smile, he murmured, "Night Beka," and signed off at Otabek replied with his own "Sweet dreams, Yura."

Stroking at Potya's head, Yuri felt himself starting to drift off from his place on the bed. Mission accomplished about the shirt, he peeled it off and forced himself to get up and take the shower that he'd been avoiding. When he came back into the room, he decided to forgo any other clothing and put Otabek's shirt back on, breathing deeply and enjoying the scent that was so uniquely Otabek surrounding him. Potya curled up on the pillow next to his head and Yuri fell into a deeper, more contented sleep than he'd had since before his injury.